Any luck with that Wii yet, mate?

Spot on, Phill.

One of the reasons I find MMORPGs less appealling than I should is because when you play an offline game for the first time, you don't expect to be good. That's not realistic, even if it does give you everything you need to be successful. However, online you're effectively playing in front of all these people and for some reason they expect you to perform for them - if you're not up to their standards they're upset, for whatever reason I don't know.

That's why I like playing games with people I know. I played PSO with some people I knew on a messageboard - and even had a few games with Sean and Wolfio I believe - and got Guild Wars because a mate of mine was obsessed with it, although that turned out to be a waste of money.

If you ask me, what you need is a free and popular online game that's free to play, everyone can do and can do so privately if they so wish. If only such a game existed! Well, one day it'll be Shining Online, but until then I present to you...

Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst!

It's got everything from the Dreamcast, Gamecube and Xbox versions - AND MORE! - and is free to download from http://psobb.com.

You don't even have to pay a monthly fee if you don't want to - there's a private server I use that lets me play for free. It's very simple and, if anyone was interested, I'd tell you how to set it up.

I'm playing right now and hopefully Ty will be able to join me soon. Give it a download and reply or PM me if you want to know more!

Then keep clinging onto the Shining Online hope

Sorry to hear that, Phill. I found a decent set of articles on About.com - http://diabetes.about.com/b/a/000038.htm being the first one. There's also a list of links on this website - http://www.drinkbeergetthindiet.com/beer_&_health.htm.

Phill, that's evil. Just plain evil. At least you didn't steal her the day before though, I suppose.

But all the same... you evil man.

Don't forget about Ye Olde Chat tonight, 8pm GMT!

Also, is anyone doing anything for Lent? I don't usually give stuff up for it, I try to use it more productively, so Hannah and I are on something of a health kick - walking every day, eating more healthily and so on. I'm also learning to read and write Japanese and hopefully not whinging so much. So far it's going okay, but I think the real test will be keeping it up this week when I'm working more.

This week I've written a couple of articles about the very entertaining Shining Soul II on GBA.

The first article, "Truly Underrated Games: Shining Soul II" outlines what's good about it, whereas the second article "Sega's DS Surprise: Best Case Scenario" looks into how awesome an online Shining Soul title would be.

They're both worth reading I think, so pop by my site and have a read!

A belated happy birthday, L@zy! How old are you now?

Who gave you candy, mate?

Who were the lucky ladies who received cards?

Did anyone get lucky?

Did anyone not?

So many questions!

Ahh, don't worry Phill, we've all been there! To be honest it's better that you stopped because of puking for two reasons:

1. You didn't throw up on a girl. This is always a good thing.
2. You didn't expose any beer droop.

Don't worry about it, there will be other times. Thanks for sharing in the wheel though!

Have I created this topic before? Probably, somewhere. Maybe even yesterday.

Anyway, long story short: what did everyone give for Valentine's Day? What did everyone get? Anything? I didn't

Still in college? I finished a postgraduate course last June!

Good advice though, both of you. I took it and today went to Sainsbury's to get an application form. It's only part-time as I'm obviously hoping I can work both jobs, which would be the ideal situation really. I'll let you know how it goes.

With pleasure, Solmyr! My number is 4114 2675 6643 1834. I'll add you tonight - prepare for a Mii invasion!

Before Christmas I got a job at Gamestation, which I love and adore. It's only part-time but it's flexible hours, and over Christmas I was working anywhere up to 35 hours a week.

Now the busy period has gone my hours have dropped down - I'm working about 24 hours between now and the end of the month. I'm not sure how much more I'll get next month.

I would hate, genuinely hate to leave my job because I absolutely adore working there. It's made me very happy, which I understand is a rare thing for a job to do, but the hours just aren't enough to sustain myself (this message is brought to you by HSBC Online Banking: for when you absolutely, positively have to realise the awful truth). I just signed a new contract because they didn't want to lose me, so I'd feel doubly bad if I quit.

Anyway, what I want to know is whether you think I should start to apply for new jobs. I move out in four months, and I have quite a bit of rent, bills and food to pay before then, but I wouldn't imagine many employers would take me on for that period of time - what would be the point?

Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

I know your pain mate. One of my local game shops said they hoped to have enough Wiis for free sale by now, but as it turns out they're still having to take pre-orders in order to secure stock. They're selling out instantly everywhere, which I suppose at least means they're successful.

Hope you find one soon and we can share Wii stuff

Red wine (chianti) + home alone (Hannah's at her parents') = welcome to the wheel!

Incidentally, does anyone have any liver or fava beans?